Another trend on the rise in 2009 was the French macaron. The bite-sized cookie, dubbed by food site Foodista as ‘the new cupcake’, popped up on menus around the world, from hotels to neighborhood bakeries to top restaurants and eateries.

The recently renovated XO Restaurant in Montreal’s Hotel Le St. James features a wide range of macarons for guests, including coca cola, violet, lime and green apple flavors. The cookies are hand made daily by Executive Chef Michele Mercuri and are offered as a final bite to the restaurant’s tasting menu.

At Paris’s Le Meurice Hotel, guests can nosh on custom macarons promising additional health benefits. Created by pastry chef Camille Lesecq’s, the hotel’s ‘detox macarons’ contain ingredients rich in vitamins and antioxidants with flavors designed to protect the skin from free radicals and promote kidney health.

Zurich’s Dolder Grand serves a Luxembergli, a lighter, airier version of the Parisian favorite. The gold Luxembergli are made fresh daily at the Spruengli Bakery and featured at the hotel’s Sunday Brunch.

The trend isn’t confined to just hotel dining. Portland’s Pix Patisserie has a 100-piece macaron tower available for macaron lovers. And the November/December issue of Departures Magazine includes a solid list of places around the world where you can order up a batch of these authentic cookies.

~Jennifer Heigl